This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 on Application No. 2001-269899, filed in Japan on Sep. 6, 2001, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article storage structure for a small boat including a handle at a front portion of the hull, a display panel mounted forwardly of the handle, and an article storage box provided forwardly of the display panel.
2. Description of Background Art
A jet propulsion boat is a vessel provided with a jet pump mounted at a rear portion of the hull. The jet propulsion boat is propelled by sucking water from the vessel bottom by driving the jet pump with an engine, and splashing the sucked water rearward.
A jet propulsion boat is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.238693/2000 entitled xe2x80x9cPERSONAL WATERCRAFT.xe2x80x9d The jet propulsion boat of the above document will be described in detail referring to FIG. 7 of the present invention, which is a principal portion of FIG. 2 of the above document. It should be noted that reference numerals have been re-designated in FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view showing a small boat provided with an article storage structure of the background art, in which a jet propulsion boat 100 includes a handle 102 disposed at a front portion 101a of the hull 101. A speedometer 103 is disposed forwardly of the handle 102. A dough box (article storage box) is 105 disposed forwardly of the speedometer 103. A cover (lid) 106 covers the upper end opening 105a of the article storage box 105. A hinge is provided at the front end 106a of the lid 106 for enabling the lid to be swung in the vertical direction. Furthermore, a locking member such as a latch is provided at the rear end 106b of the lid 106 for locking the lid 106 in the closed position.
According to the article storage box 105, the upper end opening 105a of the article storage box 105 can be opened by releasing the locked state of the locking member, swinging the lid 106 about the hinge and lifting the lid 106 to the opened position. The upper opening 105a of the article storage box 105 can be closed by swinging the lid 106 about the hinge and moving the lid 106 downward to the closed position.
However, the upper end opening 105a of the article storage box 105 is substantially flush with the surface of the hull 101. Accordingly, the lid for covering the upper opening 105a is elevated upward from the surface of the hull 101. Therefore, in order for the operator to see adjacent the distal end 101b of the hull 101, the operator must raise his/her body to elevate his/her eye line.
In addition, the lid 106 of the jet propulsion boat 100 must have an increased sealing property to prevent seawater from entering from the upper end opening 105a into the article storage box 105. Therefore, the lid 106 must be a rigid, uncrushable structure. Accordingly, the lid 106 provides a relatively heavy load.
The disposition of such a heavy lid 106 elevated from the surface of the hull 101 has been providing an impedance to the lowering of the center of gravity of the jet propulsion boat 100.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article storage structure for a small boat in which the forward visibility of the small boat is more preferably secured and the center of gravity of the small boat can be lowered.
In order to solve the above problems of the background art, the present invention is directed to a small boat comprising a bar-type handle disposed on the centerline along the width of the hull, a display panel for displaying the gauges disposed forwardly of the handle, an article storage box disposed forwardly of the display panel, a lid covering the upper surface of the article storage box, a hinge provided at the front end of the lid, and a locking member provided at the rear end for locking the lid, wherein a downwardly recessed portion is provided forwardly of the display panel and rearwardly of the article storage box, and an engaging member to be engaged with the locking member is provided in the recessed portion.
The downwardly recessed portion is provided forwardly of the display panel and rearwardly of the article storage box, and the engaging member is provided in the recessed portion. Therefore, the lid of the article storage box can be moved downward in coordination with the engaging member, and thus the front visibility of the operator can be increased when compared with the background art.
In addition, the lid of the article storage box can be moved downward in coordination with the engaging member. Accordingly, the center of gravity of the small boat can be further lowered.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.